Saving People Again
by PinkSaphira
Summary: Ratchet and Clank have found themselves on a boring mission to planet Marnith. But all is not as it seems. They find new creatures, explore the unknown places, and meet new enemies and new friends. But there is something bigger coming. Rated T for violence and blood.
1. Prologue

**Saving People Again**

_A Ratchet and Clank Fanfiction_

Created by: PinkSaphira

**Prologue**

"Don't try to walk in front of me and try to lead me, don't walk behind me and try to follow me just be beside me and be my friend."

-Albert Camus

_"__So, I can't talk you out of this, can I?"_

_"__Ratchet, we have been on many adventures, but the clock needs someone to protect it. It is what I was built for," he said, then reached out his hand to shake Ratchet's hand. Instead, with a sad look on his face, Ratchet bent down and hugged him. Clank was shocked, then hugged him back._

_As they move away from each other Alister turns to them and asks, "Wait, so that's it? What about the Lombaxes?"_

_"__They're not in danger. They've just, moved on. And we'll find them. But the past stays where it is. Come on pal, I'll walk you in," Ratchet says. Then he turns and starts to walk to the doors with Clank, saying, "You were never a sidekick. You do know that, right?"_

_"__I always thought you were the sidekick," Clank replies with his signature laugh._

_Alister looks confused and says, "Where are you going? This is your responsibility. You can't just walk away! The Lombaxes need us!" Ratchet keeps walking and Alister gets mad._

_He shouts, "Don't walk away from me!" Ratchet ignores him and keeps walking._

_Alister is now furious and yells, "I said stop!"He then shoots electricity from his wrench at Ratchet. Ratchet turns to see what is going on. The electricity hits him square in the chest and he crouches, holding his chest. He stands up slowly, seemingly stunned. His chest is sparking. Ratchet looks like he's in pain and has a hard time breathing. He does two small coughs, then his hand slowly drops from his chest and his eyes droop. His body starts to go limp. Then he starts falling. Clank lunges for him but it is too late. He falls backwards off of the platform, smoke replacing the sparks on his chest._

_"__Ratchet!" Clank cries out, watching his best, and probably first, friend fall into the nothingness of space. He knows he is dead. Clank suddenly feels empty inside. His friend was gone. What was he going to do? He then turns and looks at Alister. Alister looks angry. He sneers at Clank and shoots electricity at him. He jumps out of the way just in time and looks at Alister in horror._

Clank jerks awake to find himself in his and Ratchet's house. He quickly gets up and runs to Ratchet's room shouting, "Ratchet! Ratchet! Are you here?! Are you alright?!"

Ratchet jerks out of bed and grabs his wrench, shouting, "What's going on?! Who's attacking you?!" Clank comes to a stop and sighs. He was fine.

"No one, Ratchet. Just one of my dreams again," he replies.

Ratchet looks at him with tired eyes, trying to remember what that was. Then realization comes to his face and he says, "Oh. Do you have to do that every time though? I want to get more sleep, even if you can't."

"Sorry, I'll try not to next time," Clank says.

Ratchet looks at him with pity and says, "I'm sorry. That was rude. Come here."

Clank walks over to him and sits where Ratchet pats next to him on the bed.

"What's in those dreams that gets you so worked up?" he asks Clank. Clank thinks for a moment. Should he tell him? No, he didn't need to know.

So he stays quite until Ratchet sighs and says, "Alright. I understand you don't want to talk about it right now. But when you do, know that you can always come to me."

Ratchet then hops down and says, "As long as I'm awake I may as well get something to eat. Are you coming?"

"In a little," Clank replies. Ratchet nods and heads to the kitchen. Clank sits and thinks for a moment. Why didn't Ratchet remember? Then he remembered. He had gone back in time and undone that. So he was the only one that remembered. That had never happened as far as everyone else was concerned. But that had been the worst thing to go through. He even had nightmares about it, something robots usually weren't supposed to have. After collecting his thoughts he got off the bed and went to join Ratchet for breakfast.

Hope you enjoyed my fanfiction! Please comment. I want to know if I did a good job! Will be making more chapters!


	2. Chapter 1: A Misadventure

Chapter 1

A Misadventure

"_Walking with your friend in dark is far better than walking alone."-Helen Keller_

Ratchet hopped out of his ship and onto the dark, green planet. He sighed, then turned to Clank and asked, "Why are we here again?"

Clank looked at him and said, "You were there. You should know."

"You have a better memory than me and I'm tired. Just tell me please," Ratchet said wearily.

Clank nodded and said, "This is planet Marnith. We are here to find out why all of the people that come here keep disappearing. Anyone that comes to investigate disappears so we know almost nothing about it. We need to stop whatever is here causing trouble."

"Great, we just waltzed right onto a deadly planet knowing full well what it is. Sounds fantastic," Ratchet grumbled, "Come on, lets get this over with." Ratchet started walking and looking around, trying to see anything suspicious. Clank scanned the area. All they could see was green. There were plants everywhere and they were all around the same green color.

After a while, Ratchet stopped and said, "I don't think anything's here, lets go back." Before Clank could reply, the ground shifted beneath them, then fell. Thinking fast, Ratchet grabbed Clank's hand, then grabbed a vine that had fallen with them but was still attached up there. He held on tight and they started slowing down until they completely stopped. Ratchet was breathing hard and his hand ached. It took quite a bit of effort to do something like that. He looked down to see where they would have fallen. Ratchet gasped. Below them was a sea of dark green with light green spots. He couldn't make out the shapes but there were so many waiting there for something to drop that he knew they would have been dead in seconds. He looked around and saw a ledge that they could get onto. He swung them back and forth until his arm screamed with the effort. Then he let go of the vine. They hit it and rolled up to the wall. They lay there panting for a moment, then Ratchet slowly got up and said, "You ok pal?"

"I'm fine. The question is, what are those creatures?" Clank said, getting up and looking down off the ledge.

Ratchet looked down too and said, "No idea, but there's no way we're getting back up the way we came. The only other way out that I can see is by going through them." Clank looked at him in a startled way and said, "You can't be serious! That was obviously a trap! We'll be walking right into it!"

"We already knew we were walking into a death hole. Not much has changed. And do you have any other ideas? If you do, tell me," Ratchet said.

Clank thought for a moment, then sighed and said, "Fine. You win. But don't blame me if we run into some big trouble." Ratchet nodded and Clank hopped on his back. Then Ratchet started climbing down, using all of the plants that covered everything. He had no trouble.

Before he got to the bottom Clank said, "Wait!" Ratchet stopped and asked, "What's wrong? Is something coming?"

"No," Clank said, "It's just... be careful, ok?"

Ratchet smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm always careful." Clank rolled his eyes at that. When they got to the bottom he was able to look more closely at them. They looked like giant spiders with bulging spots of light green. He looked closely at the spots. They looked like they were light green because of a liquid in them. Then one of them noticed him. It made no sound as it charged him. He pulled out his wrench and hit its face. It went to the side but came back. Ratchet leaped over it, hitting it as he went. It turned and tried biting him. He dodged and hit it again. Light green goop came out. Then it fell to the floor and was still. Ratchet walked cautiously up to it and poked it. It was dead. He now noticed that it had a big mouth with long teeth. He shivered. If that had got him it would have hurt. He looked up at the hordes of these things. This was going to harder that he thought. He took out his Blaster and walked towards the creatures. More saw him and ran at him without making a sound. He shot them and hit them with his wrench. Eventually there were many of their bodies on the ground. But it didn't even look like he had made a dent in their numbers.

He sighed and said, "This is going to be harder than I thought."

"Maybe we should make a plan before we go on," Clank suggested.

"What do you think we should do?" Ratchet asked him without hope. Clank thought, then go an idea.

"Keep going, but only kill the ones in your way. That way you won't get so tired so fast. I'm warning you though, a lot more will be chasing you."

"I trust you pal, so let's get going," Ratchet said, then charged into the creatures. He made his way through many of them and when he felt a breeze on his face he knew they were close. Then there were only a few small ones with 2 big ones in a clearing. Ratchet fought them and when they were all gone rested there for a moment.

"Can you go on?" Clank asked his friend, who was sweating and panting.

"Ya, just give me a little time to rest," he replied, sitting and wiping the sweat from his forehead. When he was rested enough he got up and stretched.

"Really would be a cool place to explore if these things weren't crawling all over," Ratchet said as he looked around.

"Indeed," Clank said, looking around for danger instead of really listening.

"Ow!" Ratchet said as something that felt like daggers clamped onto his leg. He looked down to see very small creature.

Clank asked, "What's wrong?" Ratchet bent down and tried prying its jaws apart. It was strong, even though it was a baby. He whacked it with his wrench while Clank kept asking, "What's going on back there?" Finally it was dead and it let go. Ratchet sat back down and winced. His leg hurt.

"Are you alright?" Clank asked.

"Ya, fine. One of those creature's babies came up and bit me. But I'll be fine. Just stings a little," Ratchet replied.

"Are you sure…" Clank started to say.

"Yes, I'm sure," Ratchet said in exasperation. He got back up and tried stepping on the leg. It hurt a little but was fine. He then went around the corner to see more of the creatures.

He sighed and said, "More? It seems like there's no end to them. We should come up with a name for them. What do you think Clank?"

"How about 'Norpiods'?" Clank suggested.

"What does that mean?" Ratchet asked with curiosity.

"Nothing. I just made up the word. Fits them, don't you think?" Clank said, trying to get a look at the creatures.

Ratchet turned so he could see them and replied, "It does. Norpiods it is then."

Then he charged at them again. He fought and fought, but then his Blaster ran out of ammo. He put it away and pulled out his Bomb Glove. This decimated them. _Why didn't I use this before?_ Ratchet wondered. He did eventually find more Blaster ammo, which must have been dropped by one of the explorers, but decided to keep it for later. He was hitting one of the Norpiods when he felt a breeze. He looked in that direction and saw light. They were almost out! Ratchet fought harder than before, knowing that soon he wouldn't have to fight any more. He finally got to the light and looked in to see robots holding Blasters pointed at them.

"Put your hands in the air and come quietly!" someone from in the robots said.

Ratchet put his hands up and walked among the robots. Then he use his Bomb Glove, which was still on his hand, to shoot a bomb into their ranks. It blew them to bits. The rest of the robots were confused and that was perfect for Ratchet. He started shooting more bombs at them then hit the rest with his wrench.

Then Clank yelled, "Look out!" Ratchet rolled and a shot from a Blaster went right over him. He turned and saw a bigger robot walk forward. It pointed its Blaster at him again and fired. He jumped out of the way and the shot hit one of the other robots.

The big robot said, "Move away! Give us room! I'll deal with him." They moved into a circle, making escape impossible now.Ratchet put away his Bomb Glove and took out his Blitz Gun. The big robot shot at him and he jumped around, dodging them all. It stopped to reload and Ratchet shot it with the Blitz Gun. It fell back and Ratchet kept hitting it with the Blitz Gun. It suddenly surged up and tried to hit him. He ducked under its arm, almost getting hit, and hit it with his wrench. It staggered back and pulled out its Blaster again. It shot at him again and he jumped out of the way again. Once again it had to reload and Ratchet again ran up and hit it with his Blitz Gun. It fell again and he kept hitting it. This time he saw parts flying off of it. Soon it stopped moving and Ratchet stopped shooting. It was quite, the robots looking in shock at their leader. Ratchet took this opportunity to shoot them with the Blitz Gun. Then they came to their senses and started shooting at him again. Ratchet cleared a path through them, trying to make it to the exit. He could see the light coming through and feel the breeze. Suddenly Ratchet felt himself being pulled back by his harness for Clank. He was pulled of his feet and thrown into the wall. Everything was fuzzy and swirled. When his vision cleared he looked at the robots. They had stopped shooting and were watching him. And right in front of him was a light purple crocodile creature with orange armor on. And in his claws he held Clank.

"Clank!" Ratchet cried and went to get up.

"Not so fast! If you don't want to see your friend squashed you won't move," the crocodile creature said in a husky voice. Ratchet stayed where he was and glared at the creature.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"The name is Jorgmet, and I would like you to come with me without a fight," it replied calmly.

"No Ratchet! Don't do what he wants!" Clank cried out.

"Silence!" Jorgmet snarled at him. Then he turned to Ratchet and said, "So what is your answer?" Ratchet looked at Clank in dismay. Then Clank winked at him. He had a plan.

Ratchet smiled and said, "I'll never go with you!"

Jorgmet snarled and said, "Then watch your robot friend die!" Clank then used his Thruster Pack upgrade to shoot out of his hand. He roared in rage and pulled out a Blaster, then fired at Clank. He weaved in between them with no problem. Jorgmet put the Blaster away and jumped at Clank. He was fast and got to Clank quickly. Suddenly a knife came out of his armor arm.

"Clank, look out!" Ratchet yelled. Clank moved out of the way but was too late. The blade hit Clank and cut into his side.

"Clank!" Ratchet yelled and leaped for his friend as he started falling. He caught him and took a look at his cut. It was bad, it had cut deep, deep enough to mess up his system. This was as close to death as a robot could get to it.

"Clank! Please wake up buddy, you've just got to!" he wailed. But Clank didn't move. His eyes and antenna weren't even glowing anymore. Jorgmet came closer to them and Ratchet held Clank closer, making sure that not even one of the pieces fell out of his hand.

Jorgmet smiled and laughed, saying, "That should teach you. Now come with use or you'll soon be just like him. But you'll both be little pieces instead of just having a little cut." Ratchet looked at Jorgmet in rage. He would avenge Clank. But right now going with him was the best thing to do. He could fix Clank, so he couldn't die in a battle to avenge him. He got up carefully, holding Clank and all his pieces carefully so none of the pieces would fall. He had to have all the parts to fix Clank. He got up and walked behind Jorgmet, the robots surrounding him, making sure he didn't run for it. They walked for a while when Ratchet noticed that the walls of the plant maze were turning into metal and weren't nearly so tall. The robots couldn't fit with a big group around him so they thinned out, but went behind him instead. He later saw some tunnels branching from the main one but Jorgmet just walked right past them without even a glance. Slowly the group of robots got smaller as they went into different tunnels. Eventually they were a small number but Ratchet knew he was in to far to go back now. So he kept following Jorgmet. Finally they reached a big room at the end of the long hallway. The robots stopped and guarded the door while Ratchet and Jorgmet went inside.

Jorgmet opened a grate in the ground at the far side of the room and said, "Stand still." Ratchet did and Jorgmet removed all his weapons except for his wrench.

Jorgmet saw his surprised look when he left it there and smiled, saying, "Just giving you some false hope of escaping and fixing your friend there."

Then Jorgmet pointed to the grate and said, "Get in."

Ratchet did as he was told and Jorgmet closed it behind him, then walked out of sight. Ratchet heard Jorgmet's foot steps as he got further away. Then he heard the robots going with him. Then it was silent. Ratchet turned and looked at his prison. It was small, with metal walls, floor, and ceiling, but it had a table, two chairs, a light, two beds, and some dishes. Ratchet set Clank on the table by the light and got a better look at him. A bunch of his pieces had fallen out and a lot of wires were cut. But Ratchet just knew he could fix him. He at least had to try. He sat down and got to work, twisting wires back together and putting parts back in. He worked for a long time. He only guessed that night had passed and it was morning when a robot came and put food in his door, saying, "Morning! Time to eat!"

Then it went away. Ratchet wasn't really hungry so he ignored it and kept on working on Clank. He did this for many days and nights, not eating or sleeping. He started getting skinny and his eyes were sunken in. He only kept track of the time by when the food came. Eventually there was only one thing left that was needed to fix him. His power box. They only problem was that it was split in two. And there was no way he could fix it. He was starting to despair. Would he never fix his friend? Then he heard the robot with food come and his stomach growled loudly. He would get food and sleep first, then try thinking of some other way to fix Clank's power box. He ate the food, which was nasty but tasted good on an empty stomach, then got right into the bed and fell fast a sleep.


	3. Chapter 2: A Strange Man

Chapter 2

A Strange Man

"_Friendship is not something you can learn in college or some learning institution, no one knows how to become friends, you just become, but if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship you haven't learned anything"-Muhammad Ali_

Ratchet awoke to the sound of the grate being opened. They never opened it for food. He sat up and looked to the grate. Jorgmet was there with someone else. Jorgmet never visited. And he noticed that the other person wasn't a robot. Jorgmet shoved the other person in and he fell down the stairs. Jorgmet laughed and said, "Remember your crimes as you rot in there!"

Then he shut the grate with a bang and left. Ratchet got up and ran to the man.

"Are you alright?" Ratchet asked, helping him up. He was a Markazian, just like Talwyn, but was older and had a beard. Ratchet noticed that he was wearing a big backpack.

"Thank you, young one. Not many people would help out an old man like me now a days," he said in a hoarse voice.

"Why are you in here?" Ratchet asked him. The man set the backpack down and looked at him with sad eyes.

"I never realized what they were and what they were doing," he replied.

"What are you talking about?" Ratchet asked, confused.

"I mean I was working for Jorgmet and his group," he said sadly, "I built their robots, ships, armor, and weapons. I thought they were helping people. I found out today what they were really doing. I tried getting away, but they caught me and threw me in here. So now I'm stuck, trapped in this horrible place, just like you."

Ratchet was shocked. This was the one that had made the robots? He didn't seem like he could but apparently he had. Then a thought struck Ratchet.

"Do you have any power boxes in that pack?" Ratchet asked quickly.

The man looked at him curiously and said, "Yes, but there's nothing we could use it for in here. It won't help us escape."

"Can I please have it?!" Ratchet asked excitedly. He could fix Clank!

"Sure, but like I said, it won't help," the old man said as he dug through his pack and handed Ratchet a power box. Ratchet grabbed it and ran to the table, then sat down and started fixing Clank again.

"Okaaaaaaay…." The old man said. He walked over and watched Ratchet. Ratchet worked fast, so excited that he was finally fixing his friend!

"You are doing well but what are you making?" the old man said.

"Ah!" Ratchet said and jerked back in his chair. He looked at the old man for a second in surprise, then calmed down and said, "I'm fixing my friend, Clank."

The old man looked closely at Clank and said, "But why? It's not going to help us escape."

"He's my best friend in the whole universe. I don't care if he's useful or not, he's my friend and I'm going to fix him. This is the last part I need," Ratchet said defensively.

"Alright, alright," the old man said, putting his arms up, "I was just asking. But you do know that robots don't have any personality, right?"

"Maybe the ones you build, but not him or some other ones I have met," Ratchet replied, going back to work. He replaced the power box, putting the broken one on the table. The old man picked it up and looked at it.

"Wow, my robots really did a number on him," he commented.

"Not the robots, Jorgmet. No offense but the robots are too easy for Clank to be hurt that bad by them," Ratchet said, not even looking up from his work.

"No offense taken. I haven't made them as well as I have gotten older," the old man replied, "But Jorgmet must be good if you are the one that broke all of those robots a few days ago and he captured you."

"You heard about that?" Ratchet asked, glancing over at him.

"Of course! They're my robots after all and I had to fix them afterwords. Jorgmet likes to gloat anyways so I heard the whole story from him. I also heard that you have faced many people and haven't been beaten. He's mighty proud of himself," the old man said as he leaned back in the chair.

Ratchet gritted his teeth and said, "He hasn't won yet. I'm still alive and am going to fix Clank. And no one has ever gotten away with messing with Clank. He'll pay."

"It's good to protect your friends but don't get too caught up in revenge, alright?" the old man said as he watched Ratchet.

"I know, Clank taught me that long ago," Ratchet said sadly. He remembered when he had wanted revenge on Captain Qwark so badly that he had let it blind him from the real threat. Clank had helped him realize this and together they had stopped Drek. That had been when they had first met. Ratchet smiled a little. They had been through so much together. At first he hadn't wanted anything to do with Clank but now he couldn't imagine life without him. He didn't have any regrets when it came to him meeting Clank. But now his friend was hurt. He had to fix him. His smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of determination. He realized he had stopped working to think and got back to it.

"You're good friends, aren't you?" the old man asked.

"You bet," Ratchet replied, "We do everything together. Nothing would be the same without him. That's why I **must** fix him."

The old man remained quiet as Ratchet continued working. Finally Ratchet put down his wrench and wiped his forehead.

"Now all I need to do is meld the metal together again. You don't happen to have a blowtorch in that pack, do you?" he asked the old man.

The old man smiled and said, "I just happen to have one. But you have to promise me something first."

Ratchet gave him a confused look and said, "What?"

"You have to promise to take me with you when you break out," he said and a huge grin appeared on his face.

Ratchet smiled and said, "No problem."

The old man dug through his pack and pulled out the blowtorch then handed him it and Ratchet got to work, melding Clank's outer piece back together so his insides would be protected. When he was finished he gave a cry of joy. He was finished!

"What's wrong with him?" the old man suddenly asked, "Why isn't he moving?"

"Because I haven't connected him to the new power box yet. I wanted to meld him back together first. He wouldn't have sat through that very well," Ratchet said. Then he opened Clank's flap on his chest and connected him. He closed the flap just as Clank jolted up and looked around quickly.

"Clank!" Ratchet cried and hugged him close.

"What happened?" Clank asked, still being squished against Ratchet.

"Jorgmet got you with his knife. But no worries, you're all fixed up now," Ratchet said as he pulled away from Clank. Clank looked around. When he saw the old man he asked, "Are you the one that fixed me?"

The old man looked at him for a second then started laughing."You think it was ME?" he said, "Thanks for the compliment but your lombax friend here is the one that fixed you! He just needed some things from me. Me, fix you that well in my old age? HA!"

Clank turned to Ratchet and said, "You fixed me?"

Ratchet smiled and said, "Of course pal. You don't think I would just sit around doing nothing while you were broken, did you?"

Clank smiled and said, "Thank you Ratchet. You are truly the best friend someone could have. Now, how long have we been here?"

"I think around three days," Ratchet said.

"Three and a half," the old man said.

Ratchet looked at him and he said, "What?! I was trying to tell you as well as him!"

Ratchet rolled his eyes and said, "Thank you for helping me. I never could have fixed Clank without your help."

"Of course, it was my pleasure," the old man said, then looked at Clank and said, "Hi, I'm Hertis Nerogo, nice to finally meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too, sir. I'm Clank and this is my friend, Ratchet," Clank said and shook his hand.

"Ratchet, eh? Not very creative. Why did your parents call you that? Did they like ratchets?" Hertis asked.

Ratchet hung his head and said, "No, I never knew my parents. They died soon after I was born. The orphanage named me Ratchet because I was handy with one."

Hertis looked sad and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"It's alright, I know you meant nothing bad by it," Ratchet said.

Before anyone could say anything else a robot came and announced, "Lunch!" then left. Ratchet heard his stomach rumble and said, "Alright, I think I'll go eat right now and talk after I'm done."

He went off without waiting for them to say anything. He picked up the food and went to the bed, sitting down and looking at his food. He hadn't minded yesterday but today he noticed that it smelled _horrible_. When he took a bite it didn't taste very good either. He didn't really want to eat it but he knew he had to if he wanted to stay strong. He choked down a few mouthfuls and then set it down, not able to make himself eat anymore. He went over to Hertis and Clank, who were deep in a conversation.

"So they make it practically impossible to get in or out?" Clank asked Hertis.

"Yep, and I should know since they had me design the darn thing," Hertis replied.

"Then you must know something that could help," Clank pleaded.

"Well, there is one thing, but it's a long shot," Hertis said reluctantly.

"Please tell us," Clank said.

"Alright, but like I said, it's a long shot," Hertis said as he scratched his chin, "There is a weak spot in the grate because they rushed its production. If we can hit it hard enough it should break. Then we could unlock it and get out. The problem is that there will be guards and other robots everywhere."

"Is there some way we could distract them?" Clank asked hopefully.

Hertis shook his head and said, "There's no way. I made sure my robots couldn't be distracted. But I do have another idea. The boss is coming to see you guys in two days. At that time Jorgmet and all the robots will be at the landing pad to meet him. We could sneak out then. The only problem is that the landing pad is at the only exit. So we really have no chance of escaping."

Clank looked at him hopefully and said, "Are you sure that there's no other way?"

"Quite positive," Hertis said as he nodded.

Clank looked at Ratchet and asked him, "What are we going to do?"

"We'll try our best and fight our way out if we have to," he replied, smiling to reassure him.

Clank smiled back and said, "Right."

Ratchet then sat in the other chair. He picked Clank up and put him on the table, where he was taller and able to talk at Hertis' height. Ratchet then listened to them talk of irrelevant things, all the while thinking, _Will we really be able to get out?_

_Sorry it took so long to make this chapter. Had some brain storming to do and was quite busy. Hope you enjoy it! By the way, I have updated my profile for those of you that haven't looked yet._


	4. Chapter 3: Unexpected Twists

**Chapter 3**  
**Unexpected Twists**

_"A true friendship is necessarily a single soul divided in two bodies"-Aristotle_

Ratchet slowly opened his eyes, blinking at the ceiling. He laid in bed for a moment, then sat up. Today was the day 'the boss' was coming. They were going to escape. He turned and hopped out of bed, wincing when his left foot hit the ground. He had forgotten. Yesterday he had woken up and his leg had hurt then too. It had started swelling and had only gotten worse throughout the day. Today it was even worse. No one knew what was going one, not even Hertis. But he couldn't worry about it now. They had to focus on escaping, then they could worry about his leg. He limped over to the table and sat down. Clank had decided to let Hertis take the other bed. Ratchet had offered to let him sleep with him but he had declined, saying that he could sleep on the table. Clank could especially not be swayed when Ratchet's leg started to get bad. When Ratchet came over, Clank came out of his dormant state and asked, "How's your leg?"  
p style="margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;" Ratchet grimaced and that was all Clank needed. He asked, "That bad?"  
Ratchet nodded. Clank looked at him worriedly.  
"Will you be able to do your part in the escape?" he asked.  
"Of course, I would never let you guys down. And my leg won't get better if we just sit here," Ratchet said fervently. Clank still had that worried look on his face but he said, "Alright, just be careful."  
"Right," Ratchet said. Then the robot came with food and said in it's dull voice, "Morning!Time to eat!"  
"Agh!" Hertis yelled as he jumped out of his bed and looked wildly all over the room. He looked at them for a moment, then calmed down and said, "You boys ready?" as if nothing had happened. They nodded. Hertis walked to the table and sat down as Clank jumped off of the table and got their food. He brought it back and Ratchet grabbed it and put it on the table. Clank jumped up and watched as Ratchet and Hertis tried choking down their food. When they couldn't eat anymore they set their plates to the side.  
"You remember what to do, right?" Hertis asked them.  
"Yes," Ratchet said.  
"Of course," Clank replied.  
"Good, because the boss comes around noon. That gives us a little time to prepare," Hertis said, thinking deeply.  
"Do you know who the boss is?" Clank asked curiously.  
Hertis shook his head. "Unfortunately no. They never let me have the 'honor' of meeting him. They didn't even tell me his name. But I do know that he's a bad guy," he said.  
"Well, let's prepare," Ratchet said. They gathered their supplies, went over the plans again, looked at Ratchet's leg and tried to figure out how to heal it, checked their supplies, went over the plans once again, checked Clank to make sure he didn't need more repairs, check supplies again, then finally lunch came. Ratchet and Hertis gnawed on it, lunch being, as the robot said, "Lunchie Crunchies!" They were as hard as a rock and they could hardly eat any of it but it was still nourishment. They set down their food and Hertis said, "Alright Ratchet, you're up."  
Ratchet nodded and got up, grabbing his wrench and heading for the grate. He walked slowly, trying not to bump his leg on anything and make noise to alert the robots. When he got to the grate he looked out. The robots were gone. Ratchet waited. Just in case. When he felt it was long enough he struck the grate as hard as he could in the weak spot. There was a loud _tang!_ as Ratchet felt his arm tingle with the impact of metal on metal. The grate cracked a little. He looked out worriedly, hopping the robots hadn't heard. No one came. He sighed in relief, only then realizing that he had been holding his breath. He got ready again, then struck! This time there was the same _tang!_ sound but there was also a _crack!_ as the grate broke. Ratchet's arm tingled again but he didn't really notice it. He had broken through. They were going to escape! He reached his arm through and unbolted it. Then he swung it up and looked around. No one was there. This seemed too good to be true. But the hard part was to come. Ratchet waited for Hertis to come over then helped him out. Next he brought his pack out. Then he grabbed Clank and put him up there. Ratchet then climbed out and looked at Hertis.  
"We just need to go straight, right?" he asked. Hertis nodded and picked up his pack. Ratchet helped him get it on, then Clank hopped on his back. Suddenly they heard footsteps. It sounded like metal on metal. It got louder and louder. And it was coming from the only exit. They looked out to see a group of robots! But how? They must have heard the grate being broken and it opening. Otherwise they were pretty quiet. Ratchet had no idea what to do. He had to protect Hertis and he was not in the right condition to be fighting this many robots anyways. They had already failed. Ratchet began to despair. They would never get out now, and 'the boss' would do whatever he wanted with them. The robots got closer. Ratchet pulled out his wrench. They got even closer. Ratchet went to the doorway and waited for them. They had almost reached Ratchet. He prepared to fight. Then there was a _bang!_ behind him. He spun in time to see a vent covering on the ground and a figure jumping down out of the vent. Then Clank said, "Ratchet!"  
Ratchet spun and hit a robot hard, which had a kind of domino effect. The robots fell over, but he knew they would get up quickly. He turned to see what had come out of the vent, ready to attack it. But he stopped and stared when he saw it instead. It was a girl lombax. She had dark orange fur with white stripes. The top of her right ear was missing so she only had two stripes on the ear instead of three. She also had a scar going across her right eye. She looked at him with amber eyes that glowed golden in the lighting. Her gaze flicked over his head and she said in a soft but strong voice, "Pay attention."  
He turned and saw a robot grab for him. He jumped out of the way and threw his wrench at it. It hit the robot and came back to him. The robot fell into the wall and broke. More robots came at him and he was forced to step back, not wanting to be trampled. The female lombax suddenly was standing next to him.  
"Focus," she said to him. He heard her but kept his eyes on the robots. He whacked the robots with his wrench, missing his weapons that would have done massive damage. This would have been easier with them. He saw something flash past him and wrap around a robot's arm. It was a whip. The robot got pulled forwards and a gloved fist punched it. It cracked there but was punched again and this time it broke. Ratchet saw that the gloved hand belonged to the girl lombax. He turned away from her and concentrated on the battle. He began to grow tired and his leg started to hurt more. He cast a quick glance at it and saw it was swollen even more. He started stumbling and knew he couldn't go on much longer. They had to get out. But how? Someone tapped his shoulder and he spun to see the female lombax pointing to the vent opening and saying, "Time to go."  
She grabbed Hertis and snapped her whip up to the vent. It grabbed onto something and she climbed up, Hertis clinging for dear life onto her back. Ratchet fought his was to the whip and held the robots off. When he felt he had enough time he grabbed onto the whip, noticing it was a vine for the first time, and pulled himself up. His leg hurt as he scrambled to get higher before the robots got him. He reached the top of the whip as he heard Jorgmet shout, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THEY'RE ESCAPING!"  
He looked down to see Jorgmet coming into the room and glaring at him. He got further in quickly. Just in time too, because Blaster shots suddenly came through the vent opening where he had just been.  
"Follow me," he heard and turned to see the girl lombax grab her whip and start crawling through the vent shaft with Hertis crawling behind her, his pack barely fitting in the small space. Clank hopped off of his back and followed Ratchet as he crawled after Hertis. Every time his leg hit the vent he clenched his teeth, trying not to yell in pain. Eventually he hit his leg on the vent harder than before and gave a little yelp. He stopped and sat down, looking at his now really swollen leg and grimacing. Everyone else stopped and looked at him. Clank asked, "Are you alright?"  
"Ya, fine, just hit my leg on the vent too hard," Ratchet replied tightly.  
The female lombax looked back and him and said, "Why did you yelp?"  
"For some reason his leg is swelling and is hurting him," Hertis told her, "We haven't been able to figure out what it is to treat it yet."  
She looked closely at his leg and gasped, saying, "I know what that is. We have to move fast, can you do that?"  
Ratchet nodded and said, "I think I'll be fine, just can't put too much weight on it."  
She gave a quick nod and headed down the vent, crawling even faster now. The others hurried to keep up. Ratchet now wincing quietly whenever his leg hit the vent. It seemed to have already gotten worse. They kept going when Ratchet suddenly noticed that it was quieter. He looked down to see that they were no longer crawling through a vent, but through a tunnel of plants! He also noticed that it was lighter. They climbed farther and farther and it got lighter and lighter until finally the girl lombax stopped and pushed the plants above her. They swung open like a trapdoor and she stood up. She climbed out and helped Hertis out. Ratchet stood up and stretched, loving the feeling of freedom. He tried to get out and winced when he used his left leg. His leg hurt when he put any weight on it now, as well as making his head spin. As he climbed out his leg suddenly felt like it was on fire and he cried out in agony. Everything tilted and he felt the ground hit his side. His vision grew foggy and the last thing he heard was Clank crying, "Ratchet!"

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Alright hope you liked this chapter. Whoever 'destiny' is I did the girl lombax because of you! I was stuck and this one suggestion really helped me out! Please read and review!

I just edited this because I noticed that it looked weird. It was the code! For some reason it appeared! Fixed it now. So sorry.


	5. Chapter 4: A Girl and Her Story

Hey, next chapter here. Sorry for the cliff hanger in the last chapter.(not really, I had fun being able to do that.) Hope you like this chapter, sorry about the lots of back story though, but I feel it is needed. Please read and review!(especially on Whiplana, I want to know if you guys like her.)

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**Chapter 4**  
**A Girl and Her Story**

_"Nothing feels as good as being loved by my best friend."-Karen Kostyla_

Ratchet woke looking at wooden planks. _What happened?_ he wondered, then remembered that his leg had **really** hurt and everything had gone black. But where was he? He looked around and saw that he was in a wooden room with a table, two chairs, a mirror, a dresser, and another bed. The door was closed and the one window had its shutters closed. Barely any light came into the room. Ratchet sat up and noticed something was different. What was it? He looked around and didn't see anyone. Was it that Clank was not there? It was weird but he knew that was not it. Then he realized that his leg didn't hurt anymore. He pulled back the covers and looked at it. He was startled to see that his leg was no longer swollen but back to its normal size.  
"Admiring your leg?" he heard someone from the door say. He jumped and turned to see the female lombax looking at him. She walked over to him and sat on the bad beside him. He turned and swung his legs off of the bed. She smiled at him and asked, "How are you?"  
"Fine, thanks," he replied. Now that he was closer to her he could get a better look at her. He hadn't noticed it before but she had hair. Her hair was short and barely reached her neck but it was there and it was the same color as the rest of her, dark orange with white stripes. Her eyebrows were the same white color as her stripes, which made them stand out. She had on brown gloves that looked too big for her. Her shirt and pants looked baggy. She had rolled up the sleeves of her shirt so you could see a little of her arms. She had also rolled up the legs of her pants and had tucked her shirt into her pants. She had a vine wrapped around her waist, like a belt, and he noticed that her shoes looked too big for how big her feet should be for her size, even for lombax feet which were big anyways. But most importantly, she had no tail. He stared in shock at where her tail should be. Then he looked at her left ear and eye. Maybe she had lost her tail in battle like her ear?  
"Female lombaxes are born without tails," she told him. He looked at her in shock. Had she read his mind? And how could they be born without tails!? Ratchet knew it helped him keep his balance often. Is that why Angela had always been clumsy and falling over all those years ago? The girl lombax chuckled and said, "I can't read your mind, I can just tell what you are thinking by looking at your expression. Now, before you start asking questions, I would like to explain a little."  
She got up and held out her hand, then said, "I am Whiplana Drazphind, but you can just call me Whip. My mother was Seraphina Drazphind and my father was Jarmac Drazphind. I am 23½ years old."  
Ratchet shook her hand and she sat back down on the bed, then continued, "When the lombaxes left Fastoon my mother did not go with them. My parents had guessed that Tachyon would betray us and started making an underground bunker and an escape route after Alister Azimuth started helping him. When Tachyon struck my mother was pregnant with me. My father, Jarmac, helped the other lombaxes while my mother went into the bunker. She waited for my father for two days, and would have waited more if there had been more food. I believe he is dead. She did too and left in the special ship my father had made to escape. She ran out of fuel before she could get to a safe planet. She was forced to land here. This is a dangerous planet and all the dangerous creatures quickly attacked her. She left the ship and climbed up a tree, one of the few places that are safe on this planet. The ship was quickly destroyed. She built this place, which would have been hard being halfway through her pregnancy, but she did it. This is a tree house. That's right, she was pregnant and built a house in the trees. I was born here. When I got old enough she started to teach me everything she knew. She taught me all about the lombaxes, technology, and, most importantly, how to survive here. She told me about her past and especially my father. She wanted me to know him as well as she did. By the time I was 15 I had learned everything. She was happy and often told me what a big, strong, and pretty girl I was. But she dearly missed my father. She was no longer distracted with training me and was not worried about me being able to survive. She started to deteriorate. I tried to help her but there was nothing I could do. She missed my father too badly. She would often ask me to accompany her on walks for her to feel more at peace. One of those times we ran into some two-legged scaly creatures with sharp teeth and flat faces with two beady eyes we call Troggles. They are nasty, vicious little things. They are half my height but came in a group and we were soon overwhelmed. One grabbed my ear and pulled, trying to separate us. The rest were attacking my mother. She was not in good shape at that time. I was so desperate to get to my mom that I let it tear my ear off to run to her. That is how lost part of my ear. By the time I was able to get all of the Troggles off of her, it was too late. She was losing too much blood. I held her in my hands as she died. But she was happy that she would see my father again. When she was gone I turned to the Troggles in a rage. They charged at me and I charged at them. I punched them and whipped them so badly that they started to run away. But then their leader stood in front of me and snorted. The others turned to watch. The leader was the one that had held my ear. He didn't like that I had gotten away. I didn't like that they had killed Seraphina, my mother. He jumped at me and I dodged, then punched his face. He fell on his back and I tried to hit him with my whip. He grabbed it in his teeth and rolled, pulling me with him. I fell to the ground and he leaped at me. I backed away but he clawed my face before I could get far enough away. That is where this scar over my eye comes from. I whipped the leader across the belly as hard as I could and it fell over, screeching. I had given it a scar as well. Its group ran over and picked him up with their floppy ears and ran off. I chased them but they went into a place I had never been before. Seraphina had taught me to **never** go into places I had been without the proper equipment. I was forced to come back. I have since named the lead Troggle of that group Slash, and have named the group Nastys. I have been hunting him down since. Jorgmet and his group came soon after that. They went underground on purpose and built their base. I started going down and exploring the ventilation shaft. I eventually learned the whole layout and figured out how to mess them up. Jorgmet became furious and it was quite funny. When the ships with explorers started coming I wondered how they had found me. At the time I thought they were here to rescue me. But they were all eaten by the underground creatures I heard you call Norpiods. The ships were taken by Jorgmet and his robots. They turned them into scrap metal and used them for various things. I was very surprised when I saw you, a lombax, come out of your ship. I watched you the whole time. I would have rescued you soon but I had to wait for the guards to go. Good job breaking out, but you should have been quieter. You know what happened after that until you passed out. Your friends were really worried, especially Clank. I made an antidote out of their poison and used it on you. Then, while we waited for you to wake up, I told them I all of this and answered their questions. Now, what are your questions?"  
Ratchet looked at her blankly, trying to take it all in. After a few moments he asked her, "Why do female lombaxes have no tails?"  
Whip laughed and said, "I don't know, it's just how we were born."  
"Why don't you lose your balance?" he asked, looking at her curiously.  
She smiled and said, "We have bigger legs to counterbalance the weight of our upper body."  
He looked at her legs and noticed that she really did have bigger legs than him, then asked, "How did my leg get so bad?"  
"The Norpiods have a poisonous bite. Even a baby's bite can kill you. It was probably just delayed because it was weaker and your body was trying to fight it. But it always wins. No one survives without getting the antidote," she stated.  
"Why are your clothes baggy?" he said.  
"I had to steal them from Jorgmet because my mom didn't bring any clothes for me and I buried her in her clothes so I had nothing else to wear. I am smaller than them so it is too big for me. But I made do," she replied.  
He looked at her fur pointedly and said, "Why are you such weird colors?"  
"I have no idea. My genes got messed up somehow?" she wondered.  
"What did your parents look like?" he asked, trying to find out how she got her colors.  
She pulled a picture out of her pants pocket and said, "The one on the right is my mom and the one on the left is my dad. They were both tall for lombaxes. That's why I'm tall"  
He looked at the picture and saw a white lombax with red stripes and blue eyes on the right and a gray lombax with black stripes and the same amber eyes as Whip on the left. The white one also had her hair in a little ponytail. They were around the same height and looked happy. When he was done looking she put it away.  
"You said the name Alister Azimuth like you didn't like him, why?" he asked curiously.  
"Because he is the reason all of this has happened. If he hadn't trusted a Cragmite my family would still be together and alive," she said angrily.  
Ratchet scratched his head and said awkwardly, "He wasn't actually that bad of a guy. He knew he made a mistake and he never forgave himself for it. He was willing to do anything to change what he had done. He died trying to save time."  
Whip looked at him sharply and said, "You knew him?!"  
"Yes, I met him when I was trying to find Clank," he replied.  
She looked down at her feet and said, "My mother told me everything I know about lombaxes and she hated Alister so I hate him too. I guess if I had gotten to know him I might have thought differently. But now is not the time for me to ask questions, but for you. I will ask mine later."  
He looked at her for a moment before saying, "Why are there so many dangerous creatures on this planet?"  
She shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I can tell you what I do know about the planet. After a while it grows bigger. But not really. It is the plants that are growing more and more and they grow on top of each other when there is no more room. That is how the plant maze was made. At first the Norpiods were small in number, but when the mazes started to get bigger so did their numbers. They found it easier to find prey for all of them. They only have their maze under areas with no trees. As long as you are in the trees on this planet you are safe. Right now we are in the Great Jungle, the biggest area of trees on, what did you call it? Oh, that's right, Marnith. The Norpiods queen is on the actual planet. Then planet itself is actually a very small thing of dirt with some water. Lots of the plants make their own water. Don't ask me how, I have no idea. Anyways, that is where the queen is, so don't ever try going there. I tried once, and actually got very close, but then was attacked and almost killed. Luckily I had some antidote with me or I would have never survived. I am never doing that again. The rest of the creatures have made themselves at home here in the jungle, constantly fighting for survival just like me. That's all I know about Marnith besides the non-basic stuff."  
"What are Jorgmet's plans?" he asked.  
"He is raising an army and building ships to take over something. I am not sure what they really want but I know that it isn't good for anyone. This is just a little outpost, not their main base," she said as she scratched her chin in thought.  
"Who is 'the boss'?" he said.  
She looked at him sadly and said, "I'm sorry but I have no idea. They never mentioned his name where I could hear it and I was too busy trying to save you guys to go see him when he came to see you. That was the only time he came so it must have been really important."  
Ratchet looked disappointed but said, "It's okay. Have they taken my ship yet?"  
Whip shook her head and said, "No, but they will soon to make it so you guys are stuck here. We should go get it soon."  
"Where are Clank and Hertis?" he said, looking around and not seeing them in the room.  
"They are outside playing chess. They are both really good. Are you feeling well enough to go see them?" she said, looking down worriedly at his leg.  
"I'll be fine," he said and slide off of the bed. He grunted a little when his leg hit the ground because it hurt a little but it was not **nearly** as bad as it had been before. She hoped off too and he noticed that she really was tall. She was 1 and a half years younger than him but was a little taller. He limped slightly as he went to the door and opened it. There was a table and two chairs out here too. There was a chess board on the table and Clank was sitting at one end while Hertis sat at the other. Clank looked up when the door opened and saw Ratchet. He immediately jumped up and ran over to Ratchet.  
"Ratchet, you're okay!" he cried with joy as he ran up and hugged Ratchet. Ratchet bent down and hugged him back.  
"I'm fine Clank, just glad to be out of that place," he said.  
Clank moved out of the embrace and said, "Me too."  
"Ditto," Hertis said as he got up and walked over to Ratchet. He clasped his hand on Ratchet's shoulder and said, "Good to see you up and about boy."  
"Good to be up," Ratchet replied. Then his stomach growled. Everyone looked at Ratchet for a second then burst into laughter. Ratchet started laughing as well. When they had calmed down Clank turned to Whip and said, "Miss Drazphind, do you think you could get him some food?"  
"No problem, but please at least call me Whiplana. I don't like to be treated so formally by friends," Whip said, then went back into the house. Ratchet looked around and saw that they were on a deck of sorts. He walked to the edge and looked down, seeing that they really were in a tree. Then Whip came back out and said, "I just grabbed some of the leftover fruits from dinner but I hope they suffice."  
She set them on the table and Clank said, "Thank you Miss Draz... I mean Whiplana."  
"I like to help," she replied as Ratchet came over and started to gulp down the food. The fruit tasted so stronggood/strong after that food that Jorgmet had given them. Whip watched him for a bit then said, "Now it's my turned to ask questions. I saw you guys meet Hertis, but not each other. How did you and Clank meet?"  
Ratchet stopped eating and looked at Clank. Clank looked at him. Then Clank turned to Whip and said, "I was created in a robot factory on Quartu and had just been made. I was smaller than the other robots, so I fell off of the conveyer belt. That was when I found an infobot that showed me…"  
Clank told her how he had ended up on Veldin and then Ratchet took over and told how he found Clank. They kept switching who was talking and soon it grew dark, but they still told her more. She listened in fascination at all the adventures they had had together and how many times they had saved the universe. When they had finally finished telling her of their adventures it was almost morning and the food was gone. Whip said with admiration, "Wow! You guys are amazing! You have done so many wonderful things! I can't believe that the universe is so big! I wish I could go out there." She said the last part in a longing way.  
"We have done a lot, but there are always bad guys out there and that means our work is never done," Clank said.  
"I suppose," Whip replied.  
"Would you like to come with us when we leave?" Ratchet asked her.  
She looked at him in surprise and said, "Of course! I have always longed to see the worlds my mother told me so much about."  
Then a thought stuck her and she said, "Since you were not raised by lombaxes, do you not know how to speak, read, or write in lombax?"  
Ratchet hung his head and said, "No, I don't."  
"That's no reason to be ashamed. It's not your fault. No one but lombaxes could have taught it to you, except for the few people they taught it to," she reassured him, "Besides, my mother taught me, so I can teach you."  
Ratchet looked up at her in surprise and said, "Really? You'd do that?"  
She smiled at him and said, "Of course. I could teach you a bunch of other things about lombaxes as well, but first I think we should get off of Marnith."  
"Lets worry about that later. Your story was fascinating and all but I'm tired and would like to sleep now," Hertis interrupted.  
"Alright lets get to bed. Ratchet, you and Hertis get the beds. Clank, you can decide where you want to sleep," Whip said.  
Ratchet looked at her quizzically and asked, "But what about you? Where will you sleep?"  
She smiled at him and said, "I have been living here my whole life. I often like to sleep outside and tonight is the perfect night for that. I'll be fine, don't worry, you just get some sleep."  
He looked at her doubtfully but went into the tree house and kicked off his shoes, then climbed into the bed. Hertis climbed into the other bed and Clank hopped onto the table and went into his dormant form. Whip went to the window and opened it, then jumped out. Ratchet jerked up and looked out of the window. Had she fallen? He sighed in relief when he saw her climbing into the crook of a tree limb. She looked at him and said, "See? I'm fine, just go to sleep. You need your rest after all of that has happened."  
He nodded and laid back down. He didn't think he would be able to fall asleep but when he closed his eyes he was out.


End file.
